A Rose For Emily Grierson

William Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily” creates the vivid and fascinating character of Miss Emily Grierson, a seventy four years old spinster. Over the course of the story, the reader learns about Miss Emily’s eccentric behavior. Her behavior culminates with her murder of Homer Barron, keeping him in her house and sleeping with him. Miss Emily is impacted psychologically in several ways such as the expectations society placed on her, her family history, and her own personality.
Miss Emily was weighed down throughout the story by the expectations society places on her. Firstly, the story is set in a time when spinsters were looked down on. The author describes the town feeling vindicated when Miss Emily reaches 30 and remains unmarried.
They feel that she had no chances because, “Even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all her chances if they had really materialized”
(545). The town feels vindicated that a Grierson is being taken down a notch. Though the town feels that better about Miss Emily not being married, they also hold whoever she might decide to marry to a higher standard than the chosen partners of some who they would consider common.
The narrator explaining, “The ladies all said, ‘Of course a
Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer” (546). The town expects that Miss Emily will not fall in love and marry some as common as Homer
Barron. The society in which Miss Emily lives plays am important role in her development because they outline what is and is not expected of her.
As much as the town had expectations for the life of Miss Emily, her family history and expectations comes into play as well. The story explains that she had a history in her family of mental illness. Her great- aunt Wyatt has gone insane. Her father had expectations of her in regards to courting and marriage. The story states that the town,
“remembered all the young men her father had driven away” (537). Her father believed that his daughter was too good for anyone and forced her to spend her time alone. After her father’s death, she was left alone in the world. Her family was old, and moneyed.
Lastly, her personality plays a role in the development of her character and
her eccentricities. Miss Emily is stubborn, unstable and lonely. She is described as
“vanquishing,” her enemies which she does by sheer will power. The author describes a scene in which she holds her ground, stubbornly refusing to see anyone else’s point of view. She proves a staunch traditionalist when the town gets mail delivered and she refuses to have a box put up. Then as the town grows with ever newer generations becoming the backbone and spirit of the town Miss Emily refuses to bend to their way.
Perhaps the most shocking piece of information revealed about Miss. Emily is the murder of Homer Barron. Though the author never implicitly states that she has fallen in love, the reader is left to make that conclusion. She is shown to be unstable enough to murder of someone who loves. Her stubbornness, instability and loneliness all provide fascinating looks into her personality.
As the focus of the story, Miss Emily provides an interesting, and complex character. Faulkner uses her family, the preconception society has about others actions and her own personality to develop her character. Her family history, which includes a
Great-Aunt who went insane, gives her the historical backing to go insane. During this time, society ties her down to a certain way of life expressing the belief that women need men. What makes her even more interesting is her own personality given that she is capable of remorseless murder. The character that Faulkner creates is fascinating, complex, and thoroughly interesting from a psychological standpoint